Treating textiles and oils therefor



Patented June 27, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Walter Garner,Menston-in-Wharfedale, England No Drawing.

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in treating textile materialsconsisting of or containing animal hairs such as wool, mohair, angora,recovered wool (e. g., shoddy) either alone or mixed with each other orwith other fibres, e. g., silk, rayon or cotton.

This invention relates also to improvements in treating textilematerials other than animal hairs, such as silk, rayon, cotton andcaseine wool, either alone or mixed with each other or with otherfibres.

In dealing with such materials it is frequently necessary to treat themwith a lubricant which must subsequently be removable by ordinaryscouring operations. Olive oil is generally used for this purpose butmany other substances have been proposed. It is difiicult, however, tofind a substitute for olive oil which is reasonably cheap and satisfiesthe requirements of a textile lubricant, especially the somewhatexacting requirements of the worsted industry.

The invention is particularly applicable in the worsted industry inwhich a high grade oil is used and removed by scouring with soap asdistinct from the woolen industry in which large quantities of cheaperacid oils are used and usually scoured with alkali.

According to the invention such textile materials either in the looseform, or as sliver, yarn or fabric or in intermediate stages ofprocessing or in other form, are'treated with an ester or mixture ofesters as hereinafter defined, and after subjecting the treatedmaterials to one or more textile operations (e. g., carding, combing,spinning, weaving or knitting) they are then scoured.

. The esters according to the invention are synhetic esters of alcoholshaving less than 3 hydroxy groups and in which the carboxyl groups arefully esterified; these synthetic esters are chosen so as to becomparatively resistant to oxidation and substantially insoluble inwater but capable of being emulsified by the liquids employed in thescouring operation, and are such polymerised and/or oxidised esters ashave these properties. By polymerised and/or oxidised esters are meantesters formed either by combining an alcohol having less than 3 hydroxygroups with an unsaturated fatty acid which has been polymerised and/oroxidised or by forming an ester of an alcohol having less than 3 hydroxygroups and unsaturated acid and polymerising and/or oxidising suchester. The esters defined above are oily bodies; they are thereforedistin uished from esters which are capable of Application July 16,1937, Serial In Great Britain January 21,

' out alkali, to be removed, practically speaking,

in the scouring operation. They should compare favourably with olive oilin both these respects. Preferably both the alcohol and acid are of highmolecular weight and in any case the fatty acid contains more than eightcarbon atoms.

The most suitable alcohols which must have less than three hydroxygroups have six or more carbon atoms. Examples are hexyl alcohol, laurylalcohol, cetyl alcohol, cholesterol, methyl cyclohexanol, ethyleneglycol, propylene glycol, or the simple substitution products of suchalcohols, though ethyl alcohol may be used also.

The most suitable acids are monoethenoid fatty acids (e. g., oleic acid)and their simple substitution products (e. g., ricinoleic acid).Although theesters of such acids are usually of the same order ofstability as the triglyceride of oleic acid to oxidation by exposure toair, they respond to polymerisation or oxidation by virtue of thepresence of an ethenoid linkage.

Less suitable acids are the diethenoid fatty acids, e. g., linoleicacid, and their simple substitution products. Although the esters ofsuch acids are more easily oxidised than the triglyceride of oleic acidby exposure to air they can be employed either alone or in admixturewith monoethenoid fatty acids to produce products which may be inferiorso far as resistance to oxidation is concerned, to those productsprepared only from monoethenoid fatty acids, but superior in certainother respects, e. g., cost.

Unsaturated acids of the types mentioned above which have been oxidisedor hydrogenated, and simple substitution products of such modifiedacids, may also be employed.

Acids of any of the types mentioned above may be used either alone or inadmixture with each other or in admixture with saturated fatty acidswhich act as diluents, e. g., stearic acid.

formation been partially hydrogenated, or simple substitution productsof such partially hydrogenated esters, may also be polymerised and/oroxidised to yield textile oils according to the invention.

The compositions employed for treating the textile materials may consistof the pure or commercial esters as defined above or mixtures thereofwith a diluent such 'as mineral oil or a solid ester or with a substancewhich assists emulsification, or aqueous emulsions may be used.Substances of a higher or lower viscosity may be added respectively toincrease or reduce the viscosity. Thus castor oil or polymerised rapeoil may be added to increase the viscosity or a thin mineral oil or thinester may be added to reduce the viscosity.

It has already been stated that the ester must be readily emulsiflable.It must emulsify fairly easily with soap solution with or withoutalkali. The diluent need not necessarily comply with this conditionprovided the mixture does so. The behaviour when present upon wool fibreis ascertained for example by the following scouring test: A wool hankis steeped in a 3 75 solution of the oil in a volatile organic solvent,squeezed, and allowed to stand 12 hours to ensure a complete and evenimpregnation. The hank is then secured in a solution of 0.2% soap and0.1% ammonia at C. for one quarter of an hour in an apparatus whichcirculates the liquor. It is then washed in water, dried, and thepercentage residual oil is ascertained. This test corresponds to a trademethod of scouring wool hanks.

The textile oil composed entirely or partly of an ester according to theinvention should have a viscosity between 200 and 650 seconds Redwood atF. The preferred compositions have a viscosity between 300 and 500seconds Redwood at room temperature and a flash point above 330 F., asthese qualities enable them to satisfy current requirements in the tradealthough they are not essential for practical success.

By way of example oxidised and slightly polymerised methyl cyclohexanololeate may be prepared from commercial methyl cyclohexanol byesterification with oleic acid and subsequent oxidation and slightpolymerisation by blowing the heated ester with air or even by agitationin presence of air. Such a product, having for example an iodine valueof 51, may be used as a substitute for olive oil (iodine value 88). Thisproduct is so little sensitive to oxidation as compared to ordinarytextile olive oil that after two hours in the Mackey testing apparatusthe temperature was only 215 F. (olive oil 490 F.).

Two parts of this oxidised and slightly polymcrised methyl cyclohexanololeate may be emulsifled by the aid of one part of soap solution to forma "wool cream which is suitably diluted before use. Twitchell base mayalso be used as the emulsifier.

By working according to this invention it is possible to produce oilswhich are even superior to olive oil in one or more of the followingproperties: absence of rancidity, reduced colour, and reduced odour.

I claim as my invention:

1. Process of treating textile materials which consists in oiling thematerial with an oxidised ester containing a cyclohexanol nucleus and afatty acid radical containing more than eight carbon atoms having aviscosity between 200 and 650 seconds Redwood at 60 F., and beingcomparatively resistant to oxidation, and substantially insoluble inwater but capable of being emulsified by a scouring liquid, subjectingthe oiled material to at least one mechanical textile process, andscouring the material.

2. Process as in claim 1, in which a diluent is used with the syntheticester.

3. Process as in claim 1 in which the synthetic ester is used in theform of an emulsion.

WALTER GARNER.

